Systems and methods for radial display of time based information

ABSTRACT

In certain embodiments, a radial configuration of time based information is displayed by a computing system in a graphical user interface. The radial configuration includes a graphical timeline spirally disposed about at least one axis point in the graphical user interface. In certain examples, the graphical timeline represents a time period and includes a first section representing a first portion and a second section representing a second portion of the time period. In certain other embodiments, a radial configuration of time based information is displayed by a computing system in a graphical user interface. The radial configuration represents a time period and includes a first radial section and a second radial section disposed about an axis point at different radial distances from the axis point. The first radial section represents a first portion and the second radial section represents a second portion of the time period.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of presently pending U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/339,896 filed Dec. 19, 2008, entitledSYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR RADIAL DISPLAY OF TIME BASED INFORMATION, whichis hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Advances in electronic technologies and devices have put a wide varietyof applications, features, and information at people's fingertips. Theproliferation of such applications, features, and information onelectronic devices has challenged designers of user interfaces for theelectronic devices. For example, a common challenge has been to designand implement user interface elements that provide an intuitive andappropriate balance of information and functionality. The difficulty ofthe challenge is exacerbated for electronic devices that have limitedresources and/or that are small in size such as a mobile phone device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate various embodiments and are a partof the specification. The illustrated embodiments are merely examplesand do not limit the scope of the disclosure. Throughout the drawings,identical or similar reference numbers designate identical or similarelements.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system configured for radial display oftime based information.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary mobile device having the system of FIG.1 implemented therein.

FIG. 3 illustrates another exemplary implementation of the system ofFIG. 1.

FIGS. 4A-4E illustrate an exemplary radial configuration of time basedinformation and graphical objects representative of events displayedtogether in a graphical user interface (“GUI”).

FIG. 5 illustrates another exemplary radial configuration of time basedinformation.

FIG. 6 illustrates a sequence of GUI views representative of updates tothe radial configuration of FIG. 5 based on passage of time.

FIG. 7 illustrates a timeline and a ghosted timeline displayed togetherin a GUI.

FIG. 8 illustrates an expanded magnification window displayed in a GUI.

FIG. 9A illustrates graphical objects representative of events displayedtogether with the radial configuration of FIG. 5 in a GUI.

FIGS. 9B-9D illustrate exemplary pop-up windows displayed together witha radial configuration of time based information in a GUI.

FIGS. 10A-10E illustrate another exemplary radial configuration of timebased information.

FIGS. 11A-11B illustrate another exemplary radial configuration of timebased information.

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary method for radial display of time basedinformation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary systems and methods for radial display of time basedinformation are described herein. In certain examples, a radialconfiguration of time based information is displayed by a computingsystem in a graphical user interface of the computing system. In certainembodiments, the radial configuration of time based information includesa graphical timeline spirally disposed about at least one axis point inthe graphical user interface. The graphical timeline may visuallyrepresent a particular time period (e.g., an approximately twenty-fourhour time period.) In certain embodiments, the radial configuration oftime based information represents a time period and includes a firstradial section and a second radial section disposed about an axis pointat different radial distances from the axis point. The first radialsection may represent a first portion of the time period and the secondradial section may represent a second portion of the time period.

In certain embodiments, a graphical object representative of an eventmay be selectively displayed together with a radial configuration oftime based information in a graphical user interface. A position of thegraphical object relative to the radial configuration of time basedinformation in the graphical user interface is configured to indicate arelationship between the event and the time based information.

Exemplary embodiments of systems and methods for radial display of timebased information will now be described in more detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary computing system 100 (“system 100”)configured for radial display of time based information. System 100 mayinclude a communication facility 110, processing facility 120, storagefacility 130, input/output (“I/O”) facility 140, address book facility150, calendar facility 160, radial time facility 170, and user interfacefacility 180 communicatively coupled to one another as shown in FIG. 1.The components of system 100 may communicate with one another, includingsending data to and receiving data from one another, using any suitablecommunication technologies.

In some examples, system 100, or one or more components of system 100,may include any computing hardware and/or instructions (e.g., softwareprograms), or combinations of computing instructions and hardware,configured to perform one or more of the processes described herein. Inparticular, it should be understood that system 100, or one or morecomponents of system 100, may be implemented on one physical computingdevice or may be implemented on more than one physical computing device.Accordingly, system 100 may include any one of a number of computingdevices employing any of a number of computer operating systems.

One or more of the processes described herein may be implemented atleast in part as computer-executable instructions, i.e., instructionsexecutable by one or more computing devices, tangibly embodied in acomputer-readable medium. In general, a processor (e.g., amicroprocessor) receives instructions, from a computer-readable medium(e.g., from a memory, etc.), and executes those instructions, therebyperforming one or more processes, including one or more of the processesdescribed herein. Such instructions may be stored and transmitted usinga variety of known computer-readable media.

A computer-readable medium (also referred to as a processor-readablemedium) includes any medium that participates in providing data (e.g.,instructions) that may be read by a computer (e.g., by a processor of acomputer). Such a medium may take many forms, including, but not limitedto, non-volatile media and/or volatile media. Non-volatile media mayinclude, for example, optical or magnetic disks and other persistentmemory. Volatile media may include, for example, dynamic random accessmemory (“DRAM”), which typically constitutes a main memory. Common formsof computer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, aflexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, aCD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, anyother physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, aFLASH-EEPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other mediumfrom which a computing device can read.

Accordingly, each of the components of system 100 may be implemented ashardware, computing instructions (e.g., software) tangibly embodied on acomputer-readable medium, or a combination of hardware and tangiblyembodied computing instructions configured to perform one or more of theprocesses described herein. In certain embodiments, for example, radialtime facility 170 may be implemented as one or more softwareapplications embodied on one or more computer-readable media andconfigured to direct processing facility 120, user interface facility180, and/or one or more other components of system 100 to execute one ormore of the processes described herein.

System 100 may be implemented as may suit a particular application. FIG.2 illustrates an exemplary device 200 having system 100 implementedthereon. Device 200 may include one or more of the components of system100 shown in FIG. 1 and may be configured to perform one or more of theprocesses and/or operations described herein. Device 200 may include,but is not limited to, a communications device, user device, mobiledevice (e.g., a mobile phone device), handheld device, computer, phonedevice (e.g., Verizon Hub device), personal-digital assistant device,set-top box and connected display device (e.g., a television), displaydevice, and any other device configured to perform one or more of theprocesses and/or operations described herein.

As shown in FIG. 2, device 200 may include a display 210, which may bepart of I/O facility 140 and may include one or more display componentsand technologies configured to display one or more GUIs for viewing by auser of device 200. For example, display 210 may include a displayscreen configured to display one or more GUIs for viewing by a user ofdevice 200. In certain implementations, the display screen may comprisea touch screen display configured to receive touch input. The touchscreen display may employ any suitable single-touch and/or multi-touchtouch screen technologies. Examples of GUIs and various GUI views thatmay be displayed on a display such as display 210 are described indetail further below. In addition to display 210, device 200 may includeinput mechanisms such as one or more of the input buttons 220 shown inFIG. 2. Input buttons 220 may be part of I/O facility 140.

The implementation of system 100 shown in FIG. 2 is illustrative only.Other embodiments may include alternative implementations. As anexample, FIG. 3 illustrates another exemplary implementation 300 ofsystem 100. In implementation 300, components of system 100 may bedistributed across a server subsystem 310 and an access device 320configured to communicate with server subsystem 310 by way of a network325. Distribution of components of system 100 across server subsystem310 and access device 320 may be arranged as may suit a particularapplication. In certain examples, I/O facility 140 and user interfacefacility 180 may be implemented in access device 320, and one or more ofthe other facilities may be implemented in server subsystem 310. Inother examples, I/O facility 140, radial time facility 170, and userinterface facility 180 may be implemented in access device 320, and oneor more of the other facilities may be implemented in server subsystem310. In yet other examples, any component of system 100 may be dividedand distributed across server subsystem 310 and access device 320. Forinstance, radial time facility 170 and/or user interface facility 180may be divided and distributed across server subsystem 310 and accessdevice 320 in certain embodiments.

Server subsystem 310 may include at least one server with one or more ofthe components of system 100 implemented thereon, and access device 320may include any suitable device with one or more components of system100 implemented thereon. In certain embodiments, for example, accessdevice 320 may include I/O facility 140, or user interface facility 180and I/O facility 140, such that access device 320 is configured togenerate and/or display one of more of the GUIs described herein forviewing by a user 330 of access device 320. Access device 320 mayinclude, but is not limited to, a communications device, mobile device(e.g., a mobile phone device), handheld device, computing device (e.g.,a desktop or laptop computer), phone device (e.g., Verizon Hub device),personal-digital assistant device, set-top box and connected displaydevice, gaming device, wireless communications device, and/or any otherdevice having one or more components of system 100 implemented thereonand configured to perform one or more of the processes described herein.

Network 325 may include one or more networks, including, but not limitedto, wireless networks, mobile telephone networks (e.g., cellulartelephone networks), closed media networks, subscriber televisionnetworks, cable networks, satellite networks, the Internet, intranets,local area networks, public networks, private networks, optical fibernetworks, broadband networks, narrowband networks, voice communicationsnetworks, Voice over Internet Protocol “(VoIP”) networks, PublicSwitched Telephone Networks (“PSTN”), data communications networks,other communications networks, and any other networks capable ofcarrying communications and/or data between access device 320 and serversubsystem 310. Communications between server subsystem 310 and accessdevice 320 may be transported using any one of above-listed networks, orany combination or sub-combination of the above-listed networks.

Access device 320 and server subsystem 310 may communicate over network325 using any communication platforms and technologies suitable fortransporting data and/or communication signals, including knowncommunication technologies, devices, media, and protocols supportive ofremote communications, examples of which include, but are not limitedto, data transmission media, communications devices, TransmissionControl Protocol (“TCP”), Internet Protocol (“IP”), File TransferProtocol (“FTP”), Telnet, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (“HTTP”),Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (“HTTPS”), Session InitiationProtocol (“SIP”), Simple Object Access Protocol (“SOAP”), ExtensibleMark-up Language (“XML”) and variations thereof, Simple Mail TransferProtocol (“SMTP”), Real-Time Transport Protocol (“RTP”), User DatagramProtocol (“UDP”), Global System for Mobile Communications (“GSM”)technologies, Code Division Multiple Access (“CDMA”) technologies,Evolution Data Optimized Protocol (“EVDO”), Time Division MultipleAccess (“TDMA”) technologies, Short Message Service (“SMS”), MultimediaMessage Service (“MMS”), radio frequency (“RF”) signaling technologies,wireless communication technologies (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.),in-band and out-of-band signaling technologies, and other suitablecommunications technologies.

Returning to FIG. 1, each of the elements shown therein will now bedescribed in additional detail.

Communication facility 110 may be configured to send, receive, and/orotherwise process data representative of or otherwise associated withcommunication events. As used herein, a “communication event” mayinclude any communication between two or more communication devicesand/or between two or more persons or entities (“contacts”) by way ofthe devices. Examples of such communication events may include, but arenot limited to, voice communications (e.g., Voice Over IP (“VoIP”),Public Switched Telephone Network (“PSTN”), or other active, attempted,completed, or recorded voice calls and/or messages), text messages(e.g., Short Message Service (“SMS”) messages), media messages (e.g.,Multimedia Message Service (“MMS”) messages), e-mail messages, chatmessages (e.g., Instant Messaging (“IM”) messages), and subscriber feedmessages (e.g., RSS feed messages).

Communication facility 110 may employ any suitable technologies forprocessing communication events, including sending and/or receivingsignals representative of or otherwise associated with communicationevents over one or more communication networks. As an example,communication facility 110 implemented on device 200 may be configuredto send and/or receive signals representative of or otherwise associatedwith communication events to/from another device over one or morecommunication networks.

Communication facility 110 may be configured to maintain datarepresentative of communication events. Such data, which may be referredto as “communications data,” may be stored by communication facility 110and/or on one or more suitable computer-readable media such as storagefacility 130. Communications data may include any informationdescriptive of or otherwise associated with one or more communicationevents. For example, communications data may include contact informationdescriptive of contacts associated with communication events (e.g.,sender and receiver contact information). Such contact information mayinclude contact identifiers (e.g., contact names), phone numbers, e-mailaddresses, and/or other information descriptive of parties to and/ordevices associated with communication events. As another example,communications data may include time information associated withcommunication events, including communication time stamps (e.g., startand end times), communication duration information, and any otherinformation descriptive of time information (e.g., time component)associated with communication events. Communications data may alsoinclude device identifiers, routing information, media attachments,communication content, address information, communication statusinformation, communication type indicators, and/or other attributes orinformation descriptive of or otherwise associated with communicationevents.

Processing facility 120 may include one or more processors and may beconfigured to execute and/or direct execution of one or more processesor operations described herein. Processing facility 120 may directexecution of operations in accordance with computer-executableinstructions such as may be stored in storage facility 130 or anothercomputer-readable medium. As an example, processing facility 120 may beconfigured to process data, including demodulating, decoding, andparsing acquired data, and encoding and modulating data for transmissionby one of more of the communication facility 110.

Storage facility 130 may include one or more data storage media,devices, or configurations and may employ any type, form, andcombination of storage media. For example, the storage facility 130 mayinclude, but is not limited to, a hard drive, network drive, flashdrive, magnetic disc, optical disc, random access memory (“RAM”),dynamic RAM (“DRAM”), other non-volatile and/or volatile storage unit,or a combination or sub-combination thereof. Electronic data, includingdata described herein (e.g., communications data), may be temporarilyand/or permanently stored in the storage facility 130.

I/O facility 140 may be configured to receive user input and provideuser output and may include any hardware, firmware, software, orcombination thereof supportive of input and output capabilities. Forexample, I/O facility 140 may include one or more devices for capturinguser input, including, but not limited to, a microphone, speechrecognition technologies, keyboard or keypad, touch screen component(e.g., touch screen display), receiver (e.g., an RF or infraredreceiver), and one or more input buttons.

I/O facility 140 may include one or more devices for presenting outputto a user, including, but not limited to, a graphics engine, a display(e.g., a display screen), one or more display drivers, one or more audiospeakers, and one or more audio drivers. Output may include audio,visual, textual, and/or haptic output. In certain embodiments, forexample, I/O facility 140 is configured to display one or more GUIs forviewing by a user. Exemplary GUIs and GUI views that may be displayed byI/O facility 140 are described further below.

Address book facility 150 may be configured to maintain an address bookincluding data representative of one or more “contacts.” As used herein,a “contact” refers to a person or other entity. Data representative ofcontacts may be referred to as “contacts data” and may include anyinformation potentially useful for identifying and/or communicatingwith, or otherwise associated with, one or more contacts, including, butnot limited to, contact identifiers (e.g., people's names), streetaddresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, website addresses,network addresses, Uniform Resource Locators (“URLs”), employmentinformation (e.g., a job title), personal information (e.g., names offamily members, important dates, and marital status), etc. In certainembodiments, data associated with a contact may be organized into aprofile associated with a person or other entity.

Calendar facility 160 may be configured to manage, track, and/orotherwise process data representative of or otherwise associated withcalendar events. As used herein, a “calendar event” may include anyevent that is or may be associated with a time, time range, day, date,and/or time based schedule. Examples of such calendar events mayinclude, but are not limited to, appointments, meetings, due dates,deadlines, goals, reminders, and any other events that are, were, or maybe scheduled.

Calendar facility 160 may be configured to maintain data representativeof calendar events. Such data, which may be referred to as “calendardata,” may be stored by calendar facility 160 and/or on one or moresuitable computer-readable media such as storage facility 130. Calendardata may include any information descriptive of or otherwise associatedwith one or more calendar events. For example, calendar data may includetime information associated with calendar events, including event dates,event start times, event stop times, event durations, estimates of eventstart times, stop times, and/or durations, event participants, purposesand/or subjects of events, and any other information descriptive ofcalendar events. As another example, calendar data may include contactinformation, or links to such information, for participants associatedwith calendar events.

User interface facility 180 may be configured to generate, or directprocessing facility 120 and/or I/O facility 140 to generate, one or moreuser interfaces. For example, user interface facility 180 may beconfigured to generate and provide data representing one or more GUIs toI/O facility 140 for display. In certain embodiments, user interfacefacility 180 may receive data from radial time facility 170 and utilizethe received data to generate a GUI view for display in a GUI. Userinterface facility 180 may provide data representative of the GUI to I/Ofacility 140 for display. As mentioned, exemplary GUIs and GUI views aredescribed further below.

Radial time facility 170 may be configured to generate and provide datarepresentative of one or more graphics for display in a GUI. Forexample, radial time facility 170 may provide data representative of oneor more graphics to user interface facility 180 for inclusion in a GUIthat may be displayed by I/O facility 140. For instance, radial timefacility 170 may provide graphics data representing a radialconfiguration of time based information and/or data representing atleast one graphical object representative of at least one event to userinterface facility 180 for inclusion in a GUI.

One or more of the graphics may be arranged in a GUI to form a radialconfiguration of time based information. A radial configuration of timebased information may include any visually depicted arrangement of timebased information having one or more common axes and/or radii. Incertain embodiments, for example, a radial configuration of time basedinformation may include time based information arranged generally in acircle, arc, and/or spiral shape. Exemplary radial configurations oftime based information are described further below with reference to thedrawings.

Certain graphical objects generated and/or provided by radial timefacility 170 may be representative of one or more events having a timecomponent. For example, events may include communication events and/orcalendar events associated with a time component such as a time of day,time range, or date at which an event occurred, is occurring, or isscheduled to occur. As another example, events may include any past,present, or scheduled or predicted future occurrence.

Graphical objects representative of events may be positioned relative toa radial configuration of time based information in a GUI. The positionof a graphical object representative of an event relative to a radialconfiguration of time based information in a GUI may indicate arelationship between the event and the time based information. Forexample, a position of a graphical object representative of an eventrelative to one or more graphical objects representative of a radialconfiguration of time based information in a GUI may indicate a time ofday and/or a time range associated with the event.

To help facilitate an understanding of radial time facility 170 andradial configurations of time based information, FIGS. 4A-4C illustrateone or more graphics arranged to form an exemplary radial configurationof time based information that may be displayed in a GUI. FIG. 4Aillustrates an exemplary radial configuration 400 of time basedinformation displayed in a GUI 410. In FIG. 4A, the radial configuration400 includes one or more graphics arranged to form a visualrepresentation of an analog clock face. The analog clock face includestime information radially and uniformly arranged about a perimeter 420having a common radial distance 430 from a central axis 440. In theillustrated example, time based information includes time-of-dayinformation arranged uniformly about perimeter 420.

FIG. 4A further illustrates graphical objects representative of eventsdisplayed in GUI 410. In the illustrated example, such graphical objectsinclude tabs (e.g., tabs 450-1 through 450-3, collectively referred toherein as “tabs 450”) positioned in GUI 410 relative to the radialconfiguration 400 of time based information. In particular, tabs 450 arepositioned at certain locations along perimeter 420 of the radialconfiguration 400 of time based information. The locations at which tabs450 are positioned indicate relationships with certain time basedinformation. For example, tab 450-1 is positioned at a locationindicating a relationship with a certain range of time (e.g.,approximately nine o'clock to ten o'clock), tab 450-2 is positioned at alocation indicating a relationship with another range of time (e.g.,approximately one o'clock to two o'clock), and tab 450-3 is positionedat a location indicating a relationship with yet another range of time(e.g., approximately four o'clock to five o'clock).

As mentioned, each of the tabs 450 may represent or otherwise beassociated with an event. Accordingly, the positions of tabs 450relative to the radial configuration 400 of time based information mayindicate relationships between events and time based information (e.g.,time-of-day information). For example, a tab 450, which may represent acalendar event, communication event, or any other event having a timecomponent, may visually indicate a relationship of the event to timebased information.

In certain embodiments, graphical objects representative of events(e.g., tabs 450) may be user selectable. Accordingly, a user (e.g., auser of device 200) may select a particular tab (e.g., tab 450-3)displayed in GUI 410. The selection may be made in any suitable way andusing any suitable form of user input. In certain embodiments, forexample, tab 450-3 may comprise a selectable touch object displayed on atouch screen display and that may be selected by a physical object(e.g., a finger or thumb) touching the selectable touch object.

A user selection of a graphical object such as tab 450-3 may be detectedin any suitable way, and one or more predetermined actions may beperformed in response to a user selection of tab 450-3. In certainembodiments, for example, tab 450-3 may be configured to expand toreveal event information in response to a user selection. For instance,FIG. 4B illustrates tab 450-3 expanded to reveal information descriptiveof an event associated with tab 450-3 in GUI 410. In the illustratedexample, the information in the expanded tab 450-3 is descriptive of ameeting with a certain person (Lee Majors), at a certain time (4:00PM-5:00 PM) and at a certain location (Conference Room 12A). Theinformation in the expanded tab 450-3 is displayed within the context ofthe radial configuration 400 of time based information.

Expansion of a selected tab 450-3 is illustrative of an action that maybe performed in response to a user selection of tab 450-3. Other actionsmay be performed in other embodiments in response to user selections oftabs 450. In certain embodiments, for example, tab 450-3 may comprise alink to a particular GUI view and/or an application associated with anevent. For instance, a user selection of tab 450-3 may launch orotherwise access calendar facility 160, which may access and provide acalendar view showing a calendar event associated with tab 450-3. Thatis, selection of tab 450-3 may navigate a user directly to a calendarview including a calendar event associated with tab 450-3.

Events may include events of distinct types. As used herein, a “type ofevent” or “event type” may refer to a predefined category of one or moreevents having one or more common attributes. Examples of predefinedcategories of events may include, but are not limited to, past events,present events, future events, communication events, calendar events,events associated with a particular person, events associated with aparticular group, work related events, family related events, personalevents, events having due dates, events labeled “urgent,” and/or anyother grouping of events based on one or more common attributes.

Any of the event types may be further divided into sub-groups. Forexample, communication events may include distinct types ofcommunication events. In certain embodiments, distinct communicationtypes may include, but are not limited to, a voice communication type,text message communication type, media message communication type,e-mail message communication type, chat message communication type,subscriber feed communication type, or a combination or sub-combinationthereof.

Event types may be visually delineated in GUI 410. For example,graphical objects representative of events (e.g., tabs 450) may includeone or more visual indicators indicating distinct event types. Eventtypes may be visually depicted by visual indicators in any suitable way,including by graphical objects having certain colors (e.g., hue,saturation, intensity, etc.), shades, patterns, sizes, contrasts, text,symbols, and any other visually discernible indicators. FIG. 4Cillustrates an example of tabs 450 having distinct patterns to visuallyindicate that the tabs 450 represent distinct types of events. Incertain embodiments, at least two distinct types of events arerepresented by graphical objects displayed in GUI 410.

In certain embodiments, past, present, and future events, which may bedefined relative to an actual or simulated current time, may bedistinguished from one another in GUI 410. For example, distinct colorsmay be used to visually distinguish past, present, and future events. Insome examples, a color band may be associated with the radialconfiguration 400 of time based information. For instance, a radialcolor band may be displayed along perimeter 420 of the radialconfiguration 400. When tabs 450 are positioned along perimeter 420 ofthe radial configuration 400, one or more colors associated with theradial color band and corresponding to the locations of the tabs 450 maybe visually displayed as part of the tabs 450. As an example, a colorband may include one or more colors, or gradient of color(s), associatedwith a position between four o'clock and five o'clock along perimeter420. When tab 450-3 is displayed at this position as shown in FIG. 4C,the color(s), or gradient of color(s), associated with the position maybe displayed within tab 450-3. That is, tab 450-3 may provide a windowto a portion of a radial color band associated with radial configuration400.

The color band may include a color gradient configured to indicate past,present, and future events. In certain embodiments, for example, a redcolor may be associated with present events. The red color maytransition, in gradient fashion, to a blue color associated with futureevents. Distance into the future may also be indicated by one or moreattributes of the blue color. For instance, an event that is fartherinto the future than another event may be represented with a fuller bluecolor. In FIG. 4C, the present time is approximately 1:15 PM asindicated by time hands 460-1 and 460-2. Accordingly, tab 450-2 mayinclude a red color indicating that a present time event is currentlyassociated with tab 450-2, and tab 450-3 may include a blue colorindicating that a future time event is associated with tab 450-3. Incertain embodiments, tab 450-1 may also include a blue color indicatingthat another future time event is associated with tab 450-1. The bluecolor associated with tab 450-1 may be fuller than the blue colorassociated with tab 450-2, which may indicate that an event associatedwith tab 450-1 is farther into the future than an event associated withtab 450-3. In other embodiments, tab 450-1 may be associated with a pastevent and may be indicated by yet another color.

The color band may be configured to update based on a passage of time.For example, as a tracked current time changes, colors in the color bandmay change or the color band may rotate accordingly to indicate past,present, and future times based on an actual current time.

In certain embodiments, radial configuration 400 may represent atwelve-hour time-of-day view. The twelve hours represented by radialconfiguration 400 may be selected (e.g., by a user) as may suit aparticular application. In some examples, past events may disappear fromGUI 410 such that only present and future events are represented in GUI410. That is, when a present event transitions to a past event with apassage of time, a tab 450 representative of the now past event maydisappear from GUI 410. In such an implementation, present and futureevents associated with a twelve-hour time period may be represented inGUI 410. In the example shown in FIG. 4C, for example, radialconfiguration 400 may be associated with a twelve-hour time periodbeginning at 1:00 PM and ending at 12:59 AM the next day. When theactual current time reaches the end of a present event associated withtab 450-2, e.g., 2:00 PM in the present example, tab 450-2 may disappearfrom GUI 410, and radial configuration 400 may be associated with anupdated twelve-hour time period beginning at 2:00 PM and ending at 1:59AM the next day. In other words, the time based information, a colorband or other visual indicators, and tabs 450 associated with radialconfiguration 400 may be dynamically updated based on a passage of time.

In certain embodiments, radial configuration 400 may include atwenty-four hour time-of-day view. This may be accomplished in anysuitable way. In certain examples, visual indicators may be used todistinguish AM and PM. For example, tabs 450 associated with eventshaving time components between 12:00 AM and 11:59 AM may be visuallyindicated as “AM events,” and tabs 450 associated with events havingtime components between 12:00 PM and 11:59 PM may be visually indicatedas “PM events.” Visual delineation between AM and PM may be accomplishedin any suitable way, including positioning tabs 450 representative of AMevents inside of perimeter 420 and tabs 450 representative of PM eventsoutside of perimeter 420, or vice versa.

Alternative or in addition to indicating past, present, and futureevents, visual indicators may indicate other types of events. Forexample, visual indicators may distinguish personal and work typeevents. As another example, visual indicators may distinguish eventsassociated with different people. As yet another example, visualindicators may distinguish communication and calendar events. As yetanother example, visual indicators may distinguish distinct types ofcommunication events.

In certain embodiments, radial time facility 170 may be configured tofilter events by type for display in GUI 410. The filtering may beperformed in response to a user selection of an event type or inresponse to any other predetermined occurrence. As an example, a usermay wish to view only work type events. The user may provide input(e.g., a filter criterion), and radial time facility 170 may respond byfiltering events and displaying only tabs 450 associated with work typeevents in GUI 410.

Alternative or in addition to time hands 460-1 and 460-2, radialconfiguration 400 may include a different visual indication of a presenttime. For example, FIG. 4D illustrates a present time indicator 470displayed at a position associated with present time in radialconfiguration 400. Present time indicator 470 may include any suitablegraphical object such as an arrowhead. In certain embodiments, presenttime indicator 470 may be positioned along perimeter 420 of the radialconfiguration 400 at a position associated with a present time. In theillustrated example, the present time is approximately 1:15 PM, andpresent time indicator 470 is positioned at a position along perimeter420 that corresponds with 1:15 PM. Present time indicator 470 may moveabout perimeter 420 as the present time changes with a passage of time.

Radial time facility 170 may be configured to cause one or moregraphical objects (tabs 450) representative of one or more events to bevisually modified in GUI 410 based on proximities of the graphicalobjects to a position associated with present time in radialconfiguration 400. As an example, FIG. 4D illustrates a visualmodification of tab 450-2 based on a proximity of tab 450-2 to presenttime indicator 470. In FIG. 4D, present time indicator 470 is positionedwithin tab 450-2.

Any visual modification of a graphical object representative of an eventmay be performed based on proximity to a position associated withpresent time in radial configuration 400. For example, a graphicalobject may be iteratively scaled in size (e.g., enlarged) as itapproaches a present time position. In the example illustrated in FIG.4D, tab 450-2 has been stretched radially outward and is consequentlycomparatively larger in size than tabs 450-1 and 450-3. Alternatively oradditionally, a visual modification to tab 450-2 may include changing acolor associated with tab 450-2.

FIG. 4E illustrates another example of graphical objects scaled in sizebased on proximity to a present time position in radial configuration400. As shown, radial configuration may include tabs 450-1, 450-3,450-4, 450-5, and 450-6 positioned along perimeter 420 of radialconfiguration 400. Tabs 450-4, 450-5, and 450-6 have been scaled in sizeby radial length compared to tabs 450-1 and 450-3 based on proximity topresent time indicator 470. As shown, tabs 450-4, 450-5, and 450-6 havegreater radial length than tabs 450-1 and 450-3.

Tabs 450-4, 450-5, and 450-6 also have different radial lengths comparedto one another. In particular, of the three tabs 450-4, 450-5, and450-6, tab 450-4 is positioned nearest to present time indicator 470 andconsequently has the largest radial length, tab 450-5 is positionedsecond nearest to present time indicator 470 and has a radial lengththat is smaller than that of tab 450-4, and tab 450-6 is positionedthird nearest to present time indicator 470 and has a radial length thatis smaller in size than that of tab 450-5. In the illustrated example,the sizing of tabs 450-4, 450-5, and 450-6 produces a visualrepresentation of stairs or stepping stones that decrease in radiallength with an increase in distance from present time indicator 470(i.e., events are further in the future).

Radial time facility 170 may be configured to cause one or moreextension objects associated with one or more graphical objects (tabs450) representative of one or more events to be visually displayed inconjunction with the graphical objects in GUI 410. FIG. 4E illustratesexemplary extension objects (e.g., extension objects 480-1, 480-2, and480-3, collectively referred to herein as “extension objects 480”)displayed in GUI 410. As shown, each of the extension objects 480 mayvisually extend from a corresponding tab 450. In the illustratedexample, extension object 480-1 is associated with and extends from tab450-4, extension object 480-2 is associated with and extends from tab450-5, and extension object 480-3 is associated with and extends fromtab 450-6.

An extension object 480 may include any suitable graphic(s). In FIG. 4E,each of the extension objects 480 includes a bubble-like graphicconnected to a corresponding tab 450 by an extension line. In someexamples, information and or graphics associated with an event may bedisplayed within a bubble-like graphic of an extension object 480. Othersuitable graphics may be employed in other embodiments.

An extension object 480 may include a display of information descriptiveof or otherwise associated with an event. For example, extension object480-1 displays information descriptive of an event (e.g., a scheduled“call with Steve”) that is represented by tab 450-4. Extension object480-1 may provide a way to visually display additional information aboutan event and may be especially useful when a tab 450-4 representative ofthe event is visually small in size in GUI 410.

Alternative or in addition to information descriptive of an event, anextension object 480 may include at least one actionable object. Anactionable object may be selected by a user to initiate a particularaction or process. As an example, extension object 480-1 includes anactionable object 490 that when selected is configured to initiate anaction associated with an event. In particular, a call to a deviceassociated with a person named Steve may be initiated when a userselects actionable object 490. One or more actionable objects such asactionable object 490 may be included in one of more the extensionobjects 480.

In certain embodiments, radial time facility 170 may be configured toselectively make an actionable object 490 available to a user based onproximity of an event to present time. That is, an extension object 490may be selectively displayed based on a proximity of a graphical object(a tab 450) associated with the extension object 490 to a positionrepresentative of time in radial configuration 400. For example, whenpresent time indicator 470 reaches tab 450-4 in radial configuration400, actionable object 490 may be displayed in extension object 480-1.

Extension objects 480 may be visually modified based on proximities ofcorresponding tabs 450 to a present time position in radialconfiguration 400. For example, sizes of extension objects 490 may bemodified, such as by increasing the size of an extension object 490 aspresent time indicator 470 approaches a tab 450 corresponding to theextension object 490. In FIG. 4E, the sizes of extension objects 480-1,480-2, and 480-3 progressively decrease as distance from present timeindicator 470 increases.

While an exemplary radial configuration 400 of time based informationhas been described, the example is illustrative only. Other radialconfigurations of time based information may be provided in otherembodiments. For example, FIG. 5 illustrates another exemplary radialconfiguration 500 of time based information displayed in a GUI 410. Asshown in FIG. 5, radial configuration 500 may include a visualrepresentation of a graphical timeline 510 configured to wind about oneor more axis points (e.g., axis points 520-1 and 520-2) in a radialmanner. In particular, timeline 510 may be spirally disposed about atleast one axis point to form at least one spirally-shaped timeline 510disposed (e.g., coiled) about the axis point(s). In FIG. 5, a firstsection 530-1 of timeline 510 is spirally coiled about a first axispoint 520-1, and a second section 530-2 of timeline 510 is spirallycoiled about a second axis point 520-2. In the illustrated example, thefirst section 530-1 of the timeline 510 is represented as a dashed linecoiled about axis point 520-1, and the second section 530-2 of thetimeline 510 is represented as a solid line coiled about axis point520-2.

The first 530-1 and second 530-2 portions of timeline 510 may bevisually and/or relationally connected to one another. For example, asthe timeline 510 is graphically wound about axis point 520-2, thetimeline 510 may be correspondingly graphically unwound from about axispoint 520-1. Such graphical scrolling of timeline 510 (e.g., windingabout axis point 520-2 and unwinding from about axis point 520-1) mayrepresent and/or be based on a passage of time. In such an embodiment,axis point 520-1 and first section 530-1 of timeline 510 may representfuture time, and axis point 520-2 and second section 530-2 of timeline510 may represent past time.

In certain embodiments, timeline 510 may be configured to representapproximately a twenty-four hour time period, or one day. In suchembodiments, axis point 520-2, which may be referred to as a “pastaxis,” may represent 12:00 AM, and axis point 520-1, which may bereferred to as a “future axis,” may represent 11:59 PM.

In certain embodiments, a connection of first 530-1 and second 520-2sections of timeline 510 may be at a location in GUI 410, which locationmay be visually indicated in GUI 410. In certain examples, the firstsection 530-1 of timeline 510 may represent future time basedinformation, the second section 530-1 of timeline 510 may represent pasttime based information, and the location of the connection of the first530-1 and second 530-2 sections of timeline 510 may represent presenttime based information.

As shown in FIG. 5, GUI 410 may further include graphics representativeof a horizon 540 displayed in GUI 410 so as to separate the first 530-1and second 530-2 sections of timeline 510. In the illustrated example,horizon 540 is visually depicted with graphical objects arranged in agenerally horizontal row across GUI 410. In certain embodiments, horizon540 may be positioned approximately halfway between axis points 520-1and 520-2 and may represent present time. The location at which thefirst 530-1 and second 530-2 sections of timeline 510 connect togethermay be at a position along horizon 540. Horizon 540 may be referred toas “event horizon 540” when graphical objects representative of eventsare displayed together with timeline 510 in GUI 410, as describedfurther below.

Horizon 540 may visually represent a location in GUI 410 at which apoint on timeline 510 may transition from the first section 530-1 to thesecond section 530-2 of the timeline 510. In certain embodiments, thetransition from the first section 530-1 to the second section 530-2 ofthe timeline 510 may represent a transition from future time to pasttime. For example, an intersection of timeline 510 with horizon 540 mayrepresent present time. Accordingly, with the passage of time, a pointon timeline 510 may transition from the first section 530-1 of timeline510 that is representative of future time to a position intersectinghorizon 540 that is representative of present time. The same point ontimeline 510 may then transition from the position intersecting horizon540 that is representative of present time to the second section 530-2of timeline 510 that is representative of past time.

Horizon 540 may visually depict a linear and/or generally horizontaltime line representative of approximately a same time period asrepresented by timeline 510. For instance, in examples in which timeline510 represents approximately a twenty-four hour time period, horizon 540may represent approximately the same twenty-four hour time period.Hence, where axis point 520-2 represents 12:00 AM and axis point 520-1represents 11:59 PM, a left-most point of horizon 540 in GUI 410 mayrepresent 12:00 AM and a right-most point of horizon 540 in GUI 410 mayrepresent 11:59 PM. In certain examples, a location of an intersectionof timeline 510 and horizon 540 in GUI 410 may be based on a timeassociated with the intersecting points. That is, timeline 510 mayintersect horizon 540 at various positions along horizon 540 based on atime associated the point on timeline 510 that is intersecting horizon540. Examples of timeline 510 and horizon 540 intersecting at variouspositions along horizon 540 are described further below.

In certain embodiments, GUI 410 may include a selectable object such asa magnification window 550 (“MAG window 550”), which may be configuredto display a current time (e.g., “5:59” in FIG. 5). The current timeand/or other contents of the MAG window 550 may be magnified compared toother graphical objects in GUI 410. In certain embodiments, MAG window550 may be positioned along (e.g., anchored to) horizon 540, such as atthe location at which timeline 510 intersects horizon 540, as shown inFIG. 5. This location typically also represents a point at which thefirst 530-1 and second 530-2 sections of timeline 510 connect asdescribed above.

MAG window 550, or other selectable object, may be configured to movealong horizon 540. Movement of MAG window 550 along horizon 540 may bedetected and the timeline 510 scrolled in accordance with the movement.For example, timeline 510 may scroll by winding about past axis point520-2 (e.g., in a counter-clockwise direction) and correspondinglyunwinding about future axis point 520-1 (e.g., in a clockwise direction)when the movement is in a first direction (e.g., from left to right)along horizon 540. Conversely, timeline 510 may scroll by unwinding fromabout past axis point 520-2 (e.g., in a clockwise direction) andcorrespondingly winding about future axis point 520-1 (e.g., in acounter-clockwise direction) when the movement is in a second direction(e.g., from right to left) along horizon 540. As timeline 510 scrolls inthis manner, the position at which timeline 510 and horizon 540intersect may change, with the intersection point moving along horizon540.

FIG. 6 illustrates a series of several GUI views (e.g., GUI views 610-1through 610-5) representative of movement of timeline 510 and MAG window550 with a passage of time. In the illustrated example, timeline 510represents approximately a twenty-four hour time period beginning at12:00 AM and ending at 11:59 PM. In FIG. 6, GUI view 610-1 illustratestimeline 510 and MAG window 550 as they may be displayed in GUI 410 whena current time is 12:03 AM, GUI view 610-2 illustrates timeline 510 andMAG window 550 as they may be displayed in GUI 410 when the current timeis 5:59 AM, GUI view 610-3 illustrates timeline 510 and MAG window 550as they may be displayed in GUI 410 when the current time is 12:05 PM,GUI view 610-4 illustrates timeline 510 and MAG window 550 as they maybe displayed in GUI 410 when the current time is 6:12 PM, and GUI view610-5 illustrates timeline 510 and MAG window 550 as they may bedisplayed in GUI 410 when the current time is 11:52 PM.

Movement of timeline 510 and MAG window 550 in GUI 410, such as thatillustrated in FIG. 6, may represent natural or artificial passage oftime. Natural passage of time may refer to a naturally occurring passageof time, which may be tracked by radial time facility 170 and/or othercomponent of system 100 and may be referred to as a tracked naturalpassage of time. Artificial passage of time may refer to any otherpassage of time or representation of passage of time, including auser-controlled representation of passage of time.

In certain embodiments, radial time facility 170 may be configured toprovide at least one tool configured to facilitate representation ofuser-controlled passage of time (“artificial time”). As mentioned, MAGwindow 550 may comprise a selectable object that may be selected andmoved (e.g., dragged) along horizon 540 by a user. In someimplementations, MAG window 550 may comprise a selectable touch objectdisplayed on a touch screen display and configured to be selected andmoved to various positions along horizon 540. As MAG window 550 is movedalong horizon 540 in response to user input, timeline 510 may scroll(e.g., wind and unwind) accordingly. Hence, the movement of timeline 510and MAG window 550 illustrated in FIG. 6 may represent an artificialpassage of time and may be performed in response to user input (e.g., auser dragging MAG window 550 from left to right along horizon 540).

Where a display of timeline 510 and/or MAG window 550 in GUI 410represents an artificial position of time, radial time facility 170 maybe configured to automatically “time out” from the display of arepresentation of artificial time after a predetermined period of timewithout receiving user input. Upon timeout, GUI 410 may revert to adisplay of timeline 510 and/or MAG window 550 representative of naturaltime (e.g., an actual current time). Accordingly, a user may scrolltimeline 510 forward or backward in time artificially, and GUI 410 mayrevert to a representation of natural time after the user is finishedscrolling timeline 510.

In certain embodiments, GUI 410 may be configured to display natural andartificial representations of time together. For example, a user maydrag MAG window 550 along horizon 540, and timeline 510 may represent anartificial representation of time based on the user input. In additionto timeline 510, GUI 410 may display a representation of tracked naturaltime, such as a second timeline representative of actual current time.As an example, FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary GUI view in GUI 410 andin which timeline 510 and MAG window 550 represent a point in time inthe past, and a second timeline 710 and point 720 represent actualcurrent time. In FIG. 7, timeline 510 is represented as a solid line,and the second timeline 710 is represented as a ghosted, broken line.

GUI 410 may initially display a GUI view having a timeline 510 and MAGwindow 550 positioned to represent the actual current time. A user mayselect and draft MAG window 550 from right to left (i.e., backwards intime) to the position along horizon 540 shown in FIG. 7. In response tothis user input, timeline 510 may scroll and MAG window 550 may move toarrive at the positions shown in FIG. 7. The initial position oftimeline 510 and MAG window 550 prior to receipt of the user input maybe represented as second timeline 710 and point 720, respectively. Thesecond timeline 710 and point 720 may be configured to dynamicallyupdate in the background based on a tracked natural passage of time.Accordingly, a user may artificially scroll through timeline 510 whilealso being able to view a representation of the actual current time inGUI 410.

In some examples, as a user moves MAG window 550 from right to left toscroll backward in time, an area of GUI 410 below horizon 540 andassociated with future time may darken to indicate a scroll directionthat is backward in time. Conversely, when a user scrolls forward intime, an area of GUI 410 above horizon 540 and associated with past timemay darken to indicate a scroll direction that is forward in time.

The GUI view shown in FIG. 7 may be configured to “time out” after apredetermined period of time without user input and revert to a GUI viewin which timeline 510 and MAG window 550 are representative of theactual current time. In other examples, a GUI view showing arepresentation of artificial time (e.g., the GUI view shown in FIG. 7)may be configured to revert to a GUI view showing a representation ofnatural time after a user releases MAG window 550.

Alternative or in addition to MAG window 550 being selected and draggedalong horizon 540, MAG window 550 may be selectable in one or more otherways to elicit one or more other actions. For example, MAG window 550may include a selectable and expandable touch screen object that whentapped by a physical object (e.g., a finger or thumb) may expand in GUI410. FIG. 8 illustrates an expanded MAG window 810 in GUI 410. As shown,expanded MAG window 810 may include information descriptive of theactual current time, including indicators of the current day, time,month, date, and year. Alternative or in addition to such information,expanded MAG window 810 may include one or more selectable optionsassociated with one or more operations. In FIG. 8, expanded MAG window810 includes a selectable option 820 for launching a calendarapplication (e.g., such as may be included in calendar facility 160). Inresponse to a user selection of selectable option 820, a calendar viewmay be displayed in GUI 410. In certain embodiments, expanded MAG window810 may be tapped by a physical object. In response, expanded MAG window810 may revert to MAG window 550.

One or more graphical objects representative of one or more events,including any of the events and/or types of events described above, maybe displayed together with radial configuration 500 in GUI 410. FIG. 9Aillustrates a plurality of graphical objects representative of aplurality of events displayed in GUI 410. In the illustrated example,such graphical objects include a plurality of tabs. For illustrativepurposes, two of the tabs are identified and referred to herein as tabs950-1 and 950-2, as shown in FIG. 9A. However, the tabs shown in FIG. 9Aare collectively referred to herein as “tabs 950.”

Tabs 950 may be positioned in GUI 410 relative to the radialconfiguration 500 of time based information. In particular, tabs 950 maybe positioned at certain locations along timeline 510. This mayrepresent relationships between events represented by the tabs 950 andtime based information represented by points along timeline 510. Forexample, tab 950-1 is positioned at a location adjacent to a segment oftimeline 510 and indicating a relationship between an event representedby tab 950-1 and a range of time represented by the segment of thetimeline 510. Tab 950-2 is positioned at another location adjacent toanother segment of timeline 510 and indicating a relationship between anevent represented by tab 950-2 and another range of time represented bythe other segment of the timeline 510.

Tabs 950 may represent events of distinct types, which may be visuallydelineated in GUI 410. For example, tabs 950 may include one or morevisual indicators indicating events types. Event types may be visuallydepicted by visual indicators in any suitable way, including by tabs 950having certain colors (e.g., hue, saturation, intensity, etc.), shades,patterns, sizes, contrasts, text, symbols, and any other visuallydiscernible indicators. In FIG. 9A, past events and future events arevisually distinguished from one another by visual attributes of tabs 450representative of the events. For example, tab 950-1, which represents afuture event, is positioned adjacent to and to the right of timeline510. Tab 950-1 may further include a particular color or pattern asindicated by a pattern of horizontal lines within tab 950-1. One or moreof these attributes of tab 950-1 may be configured to indicate that tab950-1 represents a future event. In contrast, tab 950-2, whichrepresents a past event, is positioned adjacent to and to the left oftimeline 510. Tab 950-2 may further include a particular color orpattern as indicated by a solid black fill color within tab 950-2. Oneor more of these attributes of tab 950-2 may be configured to indicatethat tab 950-2 represents a past event.

The above example is illustrative only. Other event types may bevisually indicated in GUI 410. For example, the plurality of graphicalobjects representative of events and displayed at various positionsalong timeline 510 in GUI 410 may be divided into subsets, whichdivision may be visually indicated in GUI 410. For instance, a firstsubset of the graphical objects may represent a first subset of events(e.g., future events) and may be positioned along the first section530-1 of timeline 510, and a second subset of the graphical objects mayrepresent a second subset of events (e.g., past events) and may bepositioned along the second section 530-2 of timeline 510 in GUI 410. Inother words, the first subset of graphical objects may be visuallyassociated with the first section 530-1 of timeline 510 and the secondsubset of graphical objects may be visually associated with the secondsection 530-2 of timeline in GUI 410.

In certain embodiments, one or more of the tabs 950 in GUI 410 may beuser selectable. Accordingly, a user of a device (e.g., device 200) mayselect a particular tab (e.g., tab 950-2) displayed in GUI 410. Theselection may be made in any suitable way and using any suitable form ofuser input, including any of the ways described above. One or morepredetermined actions may be performed in response to a user selectionof tab 950-2. In certain embodiments, for example, tab 950-2 may beexpandable and may expand to reveal event information in response to auser selection. The information in the expanded tab 950-2 may bedisplayed in any suitable way, including within the context of theradial configuration 500 of time based information.

Expansion of a selected tab 950-2 is illustrative of an action that maybe performed in response to a user selection of tab 950-2. Other actionsmay be performed in other embodiments in response to user selections oftabs 950. In certain embodiments, for example, tab 950-2 may comprise alink to a particular GUI view and/or an application associated with anevent. For instance, a user selection of tab 950-2 may launch orotherwise access communication facility 110 or calendar facility 160,which may access and provide a communication view or calendar viewshowing a communication event or calendar event associated with tab950-2. That is, selection of tab 950-2 may navigate a user directly to acommunication view or calendar view including a communication event orcalendar event associated with tab 950-2.

In certain embodiments, a pop-up window including additional informationrelated to an event may be displayed in GUI 410. The pop-up window maybe displayed in response to a user selection of a tab 950 or in responseto another trigger such as proximity of a tab 950 to horizon 540, forexample. FIG. 9B illustrates exemplary pop-up windows 960-1 and 960-2that may be displayed in GUI 410 together with radial configuration 500.As shown, each of the pop-up windows 960-1 and 960-2 may includeadditional information about an event. In the illustrated example,pop-up window 960-1 includes information related to a calendar event(e.g., an appointment for dinner at the Stevens), and pop-up window960-2 includes information related to a communication event (e.g., amissed call from Lee Majors).

In certain embodiments, pop-up windows 960-1 and 960-2 may be displayedbased on the proximity of tabs 950 representative of events to horizon540. That is, as events converge with the horizon 540, information aboutthe events may be displayed in one or more pop-up windows (e.g., pop-upwindows 960-1 and 960-2). For example, pop-up window 960-1 may bedisplayed when tab 950-1 is representative of the next future event thatwill reach horizon 540. Similarly, pop-up window 960-2 may be displayedwhen tab 950-2 is representative of a present event at horizon 540 or ofthe past event that most recently passed through horizon 540. In theexample shown in FIG. 9B, pop-up windows 960-1 and 960-2 respectivelyrepresent a future event and a past event that are nearest to thehorizon 540. Pop-up window 960-1 may be displayed below horizon 540 whenassociated with a future event, and pop-up window 960-2 may be displayedabove horizon 540 when associated with a past event, as shown in FIG.9B.

A pop-up window may be user selectable, and one or more actions may beperformed in response to selection of a pop-up window. For example, auser may select pop-up window 960-1 displayed in GUI 410 (e.g., a usermay tap a finger or other physical object on the displayed pop-up window960-1). In response, a set of contextual menu options may be displayedin GUI. For example, FIG. 9C illustrates pop-up window 960-1 expanded toreveal a set of contextual menu options 970. In the illustratedexamples, the menu options 970 include a “snooze” option for postponingan appointment in calendar facility 160, a “reschedule” option forrescheduling an appointment, a “call” option for initiating a voice callto a contact (e.g., the Stevens) associated with an appointment, and a“send text message” option for initiating a text message address to acontact associated with an appointment. A user may select one of themenu options 170 to initiate one or more associated actions. The optionsshown in FIG. 9C are associated with communication operations that maybe performed by communication facility 110 and calendar operations thatmay be performed by calendar facility 160. The options shown in FIG. 9Care illustrative only. Other options may be included in otherembodiments.

FIG. 9D illustrates another exemplary pop-up window 960-3 that may bedisplayed together with radial configuration 500 in GUI 410. As shown,pop-up window 960-3 may include a list 980 of upcoming future eventsrepresented by tabs 950 positioned relative to the first section 530-1of timeline 510. Pop-up window 960-3 may include information about theupcoming future events. In certain embodiments, one or more of theevents in list 980 may be user selectable. A user selection of one ofthe events in list 980 may trigger a display of a GUI view (e.g., acalendar event view) associated with the event.

In certain examples, the GUI view shown in FIG. 9D may be displayed inresponse to a user selection of axis point 520-1 or the first section530-1 of timeline 510 in the GUI view shown in FIG. 9A. Similarly, apop-up window including a list of past events may be displayed inresponse to a user selection of axis point 520-2 or the second section530-2 of timeline 510.

In certain embodiments, timeline 510 and/or tabs 950 positioned alongtimeline 510 may be scaled in size based on a relationship of timeline510 and/or tabs 950 to an axis point 520 about which timeline 510 iswound. For example, tabs 950 positioned along a segment of timeline 510that is proximate to the axis point may a smaller in size as compared totabs 950 positioned along a segment of timeline 510 that is not asproximate to the axis point. The scaling in size may be accomplished inany suitable way. For example, the axis point may be defined to belocated at a distance on a z-axis perceptively further away from horizon540. This may accommodate a scaling down of tabs 950 and/or timeline 510that are displayed at positions relatively further away in time from apresent time.

Separate timelines may be displayed together in a GUI 410. For example,another timeline may be displayed spirally coiled within the spirallycoiled timeline 510 shown in FIG. 9A. This may allow a user to viewseparate timelines associated with separate groups of eventsside-by-side in a GUI 410. For example, timeline 510 and tabs 950positioned along timeline 510 as shown in FIG. 9A may represent a groupof events from a first calendar (e.g., a “work” calendar). Anothertimeline and set of tabs 950 may be displayed together with timeline510, such as by being coiled within timeline 510. The other timeline andset of tabs may represent another group of events from a second calendar(e.g., a “personal” or “family” calendar). In this or similar manner,events from separate calendars may be displayed together for concurrentand convenient viewing by a user.

While exemplary radial configurations 400 and 500 of time basedinformation have been described above, the examples are illustrativeonly. Yet other radial configurations of time based information may bedisplayed in other embodiments. For example, FIGS. 10A-10E illustrateanother exemplary radial configuration 1000 of time based informationdisplayed in a GUI 410. As shown in FIG. 10A, radial configuration 1000may include a visual representation of a graphical timeline 1010spirally disposed about a single axis point 1020.

Timeline 1010 may visually represent a time period. In certainembodiments, the time period is an approximately twenty-four hour timeperiod. For example, the time period may include a twenty-four hour daybeginning at 12:00 AM and ending at 11:59 PM. Timeline 1010 may includea first endpoint 1025-1 representing the beginning of the time period(e.g., 12:00 AM) and a second endpoint 1025-2 representing the end ofthe time period (e.g. 11:59 PM). Endpoints 1025-1 and 1025-2 may becollectively referred to as “endpoints 1025.” Other time periods may besimilarly represented by timeline 1010 in other GUI views and/or otherembodiments.

One or more selectable endpoint objects (e.g., selectable endpointobjects 1030-1 and 1030-2, collectively referred to as “selectableendpoint objects 1030”) may be displayed at or proximate to endpoints1025 of timeline 1010 in GUI 410. As shown in FIG. 1A, selectableendpoint object 1030-1 may be displayed proximate to first endpoint1025-1 of timeline 1010 and selectable endpoint object 1030-2 may bedisplayed proximate to second endpoint 1025-2 of timeline 1010. Theselectable endpoint objects 1030 may include any suitable graphics suchas arrowheads as shown in FIG. 10A.

A user selection of one of the selectable endpoint objects 1030 may bedetected by system 100. The selection may be made in any suitable wayand using any suitable form of user input. In certain embodiments, forexample, selectable endpoint objects 1030 may comprise selectable touchobjects displayed on a touch screen display and that may be selected bya physical object (e.g., a finger or thumb) touching one of theselectable touch objects.

One or more predetermined actions may be performed by system 100 inresponse to a detected user selection of one of the selectable endpointobjects 1030. In certain embodiments, for example, in response to adetected selection of one of the selectable endpoint objects 1030,timeline 1010 may be modified to represent another time period in GUI410. In certain embodiments, the other time period may represent anotherapproximately twenty-four hour time period (e.g., another day)immediately preceding or following the time period initially representedby timeline 1010 in FIG. 10A. For instance, a user selection ofselectable endpoint object 1030-1 may be detected and timeline 1010 maybe modified in GUI 410 to represent a twenty-four hour time period(e.g., the previous day) immediately preceding the time period initiallyrepresented by timeline 1010 in FIG. 10A. Similarly, a user selection ofselectable endpoint object 1030-2 may be detected and timeline 1010 maybe modified in GUI 410 to represent a twenty-four hour time period(e.g., the next day) immediately following the time period representedby timeline 1010 in FIG. 10A.

In other embodiments, timeline 1010 may be gradually or incrementallyscrolled (e.g., wound or unwound) in response to a user selection of oneof the selectable endpoint objects 1030. For example, in response to auser selection of one of the selectable endpoint objects 1030, timeline1010 may be scrolled forward or backward in time by a predeterminedincrement of time (e.g., an hour).

Radial configuration 1000 may be configured to indicate a current time.As shown in FIG. 10A, for example, radial configuration 1000 may includetime hands 1040-1 and 1040-2 configured to point to positions alongtimeline 1010 to visually indicate a tracked current time (e.g., 4:13 AMin FIG. 10A). Time hands 1040-1 and 1040-2 may move to point to variouspositions along timeline 1010 in accordance with a passage of time.Additionally or alternatively, timeline 1010 may be gradually orincrementally scrolled (e.g., unwound) based on a tracked naturalpassage of time.

Timeline 1010 may include a first section and a second section spirallydisposed about axis point 1020. In certain embodiments, the first andsecond sections of timeline 1010 may be visually distinguished from oneanother in GUI 410. This may be accomplished in any suitable way,including by displaying differences in one or more visual attributes ofthe first and second sections of timeline 1010 in GUI 410. For example,FIG. 10B illustrates a first section 1050-1 of timeline 1010 visuallyindicated by a solid line spirally disposed about axis point 1020 and asecond section 1050-2 of timeline 1010 visually indicated by a dashedline connected to the first section 1050-1 of timeline 1010 and spirallydisposed about axis point 1020.

In other examples, the first 1050-1 and second 1050-2 sections oftimeline 1010 may be visually distinguished in other suitable ways inGUI 410, such as by using different values for hue, saturation, value,brightness, intensity, shading, and/or any other visual attribute(s). Incertain embodiments, one of the sections 1050 of timeline 1010 may bedisplayed more prominently in GUI 410 than another section 1050 oftimeline 1010 is displayed in GUI 410. For instance, one of the sections1050 of timeline 1010 may be displayed in a brighter foreground of GUI410 while another section 1050 of timeline 1010 is displayed in a lessbright background of GUI 410. In yet other examples, the first 1050-1and second 1050-2 sections of timeline 1010 may be defined and providedby system 100 without being visually distinguished in GUI 410.

The first section 1050-1 of timeline 1010 may represent a first portionof the time period represented by timeline 1010, and the second section1050-2 of timeline 1010 may represent a second portion of the timeperiod represented by timeline 1010. In certain embodiments, forexample, the first section 1050-1 of timeline 1010 represents an antemeridiem (“AM”) portion of the time period (e.g., an AM time period suchas a time period from 12:00 AM to 11:59 AM), and the second section1050-2 of timeline 1010 represents a post meridiem (“PM”) portion of thetime period (e.g., a PM time period such as a time period from 12:00 PMto 11:59 PM).

In addition or alternative to radial configuration 1000 including first1050-1 and second 1050-2 sections of timeline 1010, radial configuration1000 may include a first radial section area and a second radial sectionarea. In some examples, the radial section areas may include distinctspatial areas of radial configuration 1000 that may be visuallydelineated in GUI 410. In other examples, the radial sections may bedefined and provided by system 100 but not visually delineated in GUI410.

As an example of radial sections of radial configuration 1000, FIG. 10Cshows radial configuration 1000 having a first radial section 1060-1 anda second radial section 1060-2 (collectively “radial sections 1060”).For illustrative purposes, the first 1060-1 and second 1060-2 radialsections of radial configuration 1000 are marked with contrasting fillpatterns in FIG. 10C. This is illustrative only. In other embodiments,visual delineation of the first 1060-1 and second 1060-2 sections ofradial configuration 1000 may be displayed in other suitable ways in GUI410, including by displaying differences in one or more visualattributes of the first 1060-1 and second 1060-2 sections of radialconfiguration 1000 in GUI 410.

The first radial section 1060-1 of radial configuration 1000 mayrepresent a first portion of the time period represented by timeline1010, and the second radial section 1060-2 of radial configuration 1000may represent a second portion of the time period represented bytimeline 1010. In certain embodiments, for example, the first radialsection 1060-1 of radial configuration 1000 represents an AM portion(e.g., 12:00 AM-11:59 AM) of the time period, and the second radialsection 1060-2 of radial configuration 1000 represents a PM portion(e.g., 12:00PM-11:59 PM) of the time period. Hence, the first 1060-1 andsecond 1060-2 radial sections of radial configuration 1000 maycorrespond to the first 1050-1 and second 1050-2 sections of timeline1010, respectively, and may represent approximately the same respectiveportions of the time period represented by timeline 1010.

Radial sections 1060 may be positioned at different radial distancesfrom axis point 1020. As shown in FIG. 10C, for example, relative toaxis point 1020, radial section 1060-1 is positioned at radial distancesthat are generally greater than the radial distances at which radialsection 1060-2 is positioned. For instance, FIG. 10C illustrates radialsection 1060-1 having a perimeter radial distance 1070-1 and radialsection 1060-2 having a different perimeter radial distance 1070-1 in acommon angular direction away from axis point 1020 (e.g., generallytoward three o'clock). As shown, radial distance 1070-1 is greater inlength than radial distance 1070-2.

In certain embodiments, one of the radial sections 1060 of radialconfiguration 1000 may be displayed more prominently than another radialsection 1060 of radial configuration 1000 in GUI 410. For instance, oneof the radial sections 1060 of radial configuration 1000 may bedisplayed in a brighter foreground of GUI 410 while another radialsection 1060 of radial configuration 1000 is displayed in a less brightbackground of GUI 410.

In certain embodiments, the relative prominence of radial sections 1060of radial configuration 1000 displayed in GUI 410 may indicate which ofthe radial sections 1060 is in an “active” mode and/or is associatedwith a tracked current time. For example, system 100 may be configuredto detect when a tracked current time is within a portion of the timeperiod represented a particular radial section 1060. In response to thisdetection, system 100 may display the particular radial section 1060associated with the tracked current time more prominently than anotherradial section 1060 in GUI 410. As another example, system 100 may beconfigured to detect a user selection of one of the radial sections1060. In response to the user selection, system 100 may display theselected radial section 1060 more prominently than another radialsection 1060 in GUI 410. In such an example, a user may be able toselectively toggle between different radial sections 1060 of radialconfiguration 1000.

System 100 may be configured to modify an appearance of radialconfiguration 1000 in GUI 410. For instance, system 100 may beconfigured to modify a relative prominence of radial sections 1060 toone another in GUI 410. As an example, the first radial section 1060-1may be displayed more prominently than the second radial section 1060-2of radial configuration 1000 in GUI 410. System 100 may modify therelative prominence of the sections 1060 of radial configuration 1000such that the second radial section 1060-2 is displayed more prominentlythan the first radial section 1060-1 of radial configuration 1000 in GUI410. The modification may be performed in response to any predeterminedevent such as detection by system 100 of predetermined user input (e.g.,a user selection of the second radial configuration 1060-2) or detectionthat a tracked current time matches a predetermined time within the timeperiod represented by timeline 1010.

A particular example of system 100 modifying an appearance of radialconfiguration 1000 in GUI 410 will now be described. In the example, thefirst radial section 1060-1 may be displayed more prominently than thesecond radial section 1060-2 of radial configuration 1000 in GUI 410.This particular relative prominence of the first radial section 1060-1to the second radial section 1060-2 may be displayed when a trackedcurrent time is within the portion of the time period represented by thefirst radial section 1060-1. When system 100 detects that the trackedcurrent time matches a predetermined time, the appearance of radialconfiguration 1000 may be modified. The predetermined time may be anysuitable time such as a particular time within the time periodrepresented by timeline 1010. As an example, a predetermined time may beset to 12:00 PM (i.e., noon). In certain embodiments, this particularpredetermined time corresponds to a transition from an AM portion to aPM portion of the time period represented by timeline 1010. When atracked current time is determined by system 100 to be 12:00 PM andthereby match the predetermined time, the appearance of one or moreelements of radial configuration 1000 in GUI 410 may be modified bysystem 100.

The modification may include one or more changes to one or more elementsof radial configuration 1000, including, but not limited to, changingthe relative prominence of one or more elements of radial configuration1000, including radial sections 1060 and/or sections 1050 of timeline1010 in GUI 410. For instance, the prominence of the second radialsection 1060-2 may be increased compared to one or more other elementsof radial configuration 1000. Examples of other changes to an appearanceof radial configuration 1000 may include, but are not limited to,removing one or more elements of radial configuration 1000 (e.g., thefirst section 1050-1 of timeline 1010 and/or the first radial section1060-1) from GUI 410 and/or expanding a size of one or more elements ofradial configuration 1000 (e.g., the second section 1050-2 of timeline1010 and/or the second radial section 1060-2).

FIG. 10D illustrates a view of radial configuration 1000 after theradial configuration 1000 has been modified from the view shown in FIG.10A. This modification may be performed by system 100 in response to thetracked current time matching a predetermined time such as 12:00 PM, asdescribed above, or in response to any other suitable predeterminedevent. As shown in FIG. 10D, the modification may include removal of thefirst section 1050-1 of timeline 1010 and the first radial section1060-1 of radial configuration 1000 (i.e., sections representing an AMportion of the time period represented by timeline 1010) from GUI 410and a change to the appearance of the second section 1050-2 of timeline1010 and the second radial section 1060-2 of radial configuration 1000(i.e., sections representing a PM portion of the time period representedby timeline 1010) in GUI 410. In particular, the respective sizes of thesecond section 1050-2 of timeline 1010 and the second radial section1060-2 of radial configuration 1000 may be expanded radially outward inGUI 410.

Additionally or alternatively to a change in size, a modification mayinclude a change to one or more other visual attributes of the secondsection 1050-2 of timeline 1010 and/or the second radial section 1060-2of radial configuration 1000. For instance, a prominence of the secondsection 1050-2 of timeline 1010 and/or the second radial section 1060-2of radial configuration 1000 may be increased in GUI 410, such as byincreasing a size, brightness, or other visual attribute of the secondsection 1050-2 and/or the second radial section 1060-2. In some example,the changes may correspond to a transition of the second section 1050-2of timeline 1010 and/or the second radial section 1060-2 of radialconfiguration 1000 from a background to a foreground of GUI 410.

As another example, a predetermined time may be set to a timecorresponding to endpoint 1025-2 of timeline 1010, such as 11:59 PM.This particular predetermined time may correspond to a transition fromthe time period represented by timeline 1010 to another time period. Inthis example, when a tracked current time is determined to be 11:59 PMby system 100, the appearance of one or more elements of radialconfiguration 1000 (e.g., timeline 1010) may be modified by system 100to represent another time period. For instance, a tracked current timemay be determined to match a predetermined time of 11:59 PM when the GUIview shown in FIG. 10D is displayed in GUI 410. In response, theappearance of timeline 1010 in GUI 410 may be modified by system 100 torepresent another time period. The modification may result in a GUI viewsimilar to the GUI view shown in FIG. 10A being displayed in GUI 410.

One or more graphical objects representative of one or more events,including any of the events and/or types of events described above, maybe displayed together with radial configuration 1000 in GUI 410. FIG.10E illustrates a plurality of graphical objects representative of aplurality of events displayed in GUI 410. In the illustrated example,such graphical objects include a plurality of tabs 1070-1 through 1070-6(collectively “tabs 1070”). Tabs 1070 may be positioned relative to theradial configuration 1000 of time based information in GUI 410. Inparticular, the tabs 1070 may be positioned at certain locations alongtimeline 1010. The positioned along timeline 1010 may representrelationships between events represented by the tabs 1070 and the timeperiod represented by timeline 1010. Tabs 1070 may be configured as, orsimilar to, any of the tabs 450 and/or 950 described above.

In certain embodiments, timeline 1010 and/or tabs 1070 positioned alongtimeline 1010 may be scaled in size based on a relationship of timeline1010 and/or tabs 1070 to axis point 1020 about which timeline 1010 iswound. For example, tabs 1070 positioned along a segment of timeline1010 that is proximate to the axis point 1020 may be smaller in size ascompared to tabs 1070 positioned along a segment of timeline 1010 thatis not as proximate to axis point 1020. The scaling in size may beaccomplished in any suitable way. For example, axis point 1020 may bedefined to be located at a distance on a z-axis perceptively furtheraway from one or more other elements in GUI 410. This may accommodate ascaling down of tabs 1070 and/or segments of timeline 1010 based onproximity to axis point 1020.

Tabs 1070 may be associated with particular sections 1050 of timeline1010 and/or radial sections 1060 of radial configuration. As an example,in FIG. 10E, tabs 1070-1,1070-2, and 1070-3 are associated withpositions along the first section 1050-1 of timeline 1010 and arelocated within the first radial section 1060-1 of radial configuration1000, and tabs 1070-4,1070-5, and 1070-6 are associated with positionsalong the second section 1050-2 of timeline 1010 and are located withinthe second radial section 1060-2 of radial configuration 1000.

In certain embodiments, tabs 1070 may be part of, and operated on aspart of, the respective radial sections 1060 in which the tabs 1070 arelocated. For example, when the first radial section 1060-1 of radialconfiguration 1000 is displayed more prominently than the second radialsection 1060-2 of radial configuration in GUI 410, tabs 1070 locatedwithin the first radial section 1060-1 (e.g., tabs 1070-1,1070-2, and1070-3) may be displayed more prominently than tabs 1070 located withinthe second radial section 1060-2 (e.g., tabs 1070-4, 1070-5, and 1070-6)in GUI 410.

FIGS. 11A-11B illustrate yet another exemplary radial configuration 1100of time based information displayed in a GUI 410. As shown in FIG. 11A,radial configuration 1100 may include a visual representation of a timeperiod radially disposed about an axis point 1110. In certain examples,the time period includes an approximately twenty-four hour time period(e.g., a day).

Radial configuration 1100 may include a first radial section 1120-1 anda second radial section 1120-2 (collectively “radial sections 1120”)radially disposed about axis point 1110. The first radial section 1120-1of radial configuration 1100 may represent a first portion of the timeperiod represented by radial configuration 1100, and the second radialsection 1120-2 of radial configuration 1100 may represent a secondportion of the time period represented by radial configuration 1100. Incertain embodiments, for example, the first radial section 1120-1 ofradial configuration 1100 represents an AM portion (e.g., 12:00 AM-11:59AM) of the time period, and the second radial section 1120-2 of radialconfiguration 1100 represents a PM portion (e.g., 12:00 PM-11:59 PM) ofthe time period.

The radial sections 1120 may be displayed at distinct graphical areas ofradial configuration 1100 in GUI 410 and may be visually delineated inGUI 410. In certain embodiments, the radial sections 1120 may includecircular rings radially disposed about (e.g., encircling) axis point1110 at different radial distances from the axis point 1110. Morespecifically, as shown in FIG. 11A, the first radial section 1120-1 mayinclude a first ring encircling axis point 1110 at a first radialdistance 1130-1 from axis point 1110, and the second radial section1120-1 may include a second ring encircling axis point 1110 at a secondradial distance 1130-2 from axis point 1110.

In certain embodiments, one of the radial sections 1120 may be displayedmore prominently than another radial section 1120 of radialconfiguration 1100 in GUI 410. For instance, one of the radial sections1120 may be displayed in a brighter foreground of GUI 410 while anotherradial section 1120 of radial configuration 1100 is displayed in a lessbright background of GUI 410. In FIG. 11A, the first radial section1120-1 is displayed more prominently (e.g., more brightly and larger insize) than the second radial section 1120-2.

In certain embodiments, the relative prominence of radial sections 1120of radial configuration 1100 displayed in GUI 410 may indicate which ofthe radial sections 1120 is in an “active” mode and/or is associatedwith a tracked current time. For example, system 100 may be configuredto detect when a tracked current time is within a portion of the timeperiod (e.g., an AM portion of the time period) represented a particularradial section 1120. In response to this detection, system 100 maydisplay the particular radial section 1120 associated with the trackedcurrent time more prominently than another radial section 1120 in GUI410. As another example, system 100 may be configured to detect a userselection of one of the radial sections 1120. In response to the userselection, system 100 may display the selected radial section 1120 moreprominently than another radial section 1120 in GUI 410. In such anexample, a user may be able to selectively toggle between differentradial sections 1120 of radial configuration 1100.

System 100 may be configured to modify an appearance of radialconfiguration 1100 in GUI 410. For instance, system 100 may beconfigured to modify a relative prominence of radial sections 1120 inGUI 410. As an example, the first radial section 1120-1 may initially bedisplayed more prominently than the second radial section 1120-2 ofradial configuration 1100 in GUI 410. System 100 may modify the relativeprominence of the radial sections 1120 of radial configuration 1100 suchthat the second radial section 1120-2 is displayed more prominently thanthe first radial section 1120-1 of radial configuration 1100 in GUI 410.The modification may be performed in response to any predetermined eventsuch as detection by system 100 of predetermined user input (e.g., auser selection of the second radial configuration 1060-2) or detectionthat a tracked current time matches a predetermined time within the timeperiod represented by timeline 1010.

A particular example of system 100 modifying an appearance of radialconfiguration 1100 in GUI 410 will now be described. In the example, thefirst radial section 1120-1 may be displayed more prominently than thesecond radial section 1120-2 of radial configuration 1100 in GUI 410.This particular relative prominence of the first radial section 1120-1to the second radial section 1120-2 may be displayed when a trackedcurrent time is within the portion of the time period represented by thefirst radial section 1120-1. When system 100 detects that the trackedcurrent time matches a predetermined time, the appearance of radialconfiguration 1100 may be modified. The predetermined time may be anysuitable time such as a particular time within the time periodrepresented by radial configuration 1100. As an example, a predeterminedtime may be set to 12:00 PM (i.e., noon). In certain embodiments, thisparticular predetermined time corresponds to a transition from an AMportion to a PM portion of the time period represented by radialconfiguration 1100. When a tracked current time is determined by system100 to match 12:00 PM, the appearance of one or more elements of radialconfiguration 1100 in GUI 410 may be modified by system 100.

The modification may include one or more changes to one or more elementsof radial configuration 1100, including, but not limited to, changingthe relative prominence of one or more elements of radial configuration1100 (e.g., radial sections 1120) in GUI 410. For instance, theprominence of the second radial section 1120-2 may be increased comparedto one or more other elements of radial configuration 1100. Examples ofother changes to an appearance of radial configuration 1100 may include,but are not limited to, removing one or more elements of radialconfiguration 1100 from GUI 410, changing a brightness or other visualattribute of one or more elements of radial configuration 1100, and/orexpanding a size of one or more elements of radial configuration 1100(e.g., the second radial section 1120-2).

FIG. 11B illustrates a view of radial configuration 1100 after theradial configuration 1100 has been modified from the view shown in FIG.11A. This modification may be performed by system 100 in response to thetracked current time matching a predetermined time such as 12:00 PM, asdescribed above, or in response to any other suitable predeterminedevent. As shown in FIG. 11B, the modification may include a change tothe appearance of the second radial section 1120-2 of radialconfiguration 1100 in GUI 410. In particular, the second radial section1120-2 of radial configuration 1100 may be expanded radially outwardaway from axis point 1110 in GUI 410 (e.g., the radial distance 1130-2of the second radial section 1120-2 from axis point 1110 may beincreased), the sizes of one or more elements in the second radialsection 1120-2 may be increased, and the brightness and/or one or morevisual attributes of elements in the second radial configuration may bechanges (e.g., increased). Additionally or alternatively, an appearanceof the first radial section 1120-1 may be changed to decrease theprominence of the first radial section 1120-1 in GUI 410. For example, abrightness and/or size of one or more elements in the first radialsection 1120-1 may be decreased. In some examples, the changes describedabove may correspond to a transition of the second radial section 1120-2of radial configuration 1100 from a background to a foreground of GUI410 and a transition of the first radial section 1120-1 of radialconfiguration 1100 from a foreground to a background of GUI 410.

As another example, a predetermined time may be set to a time (e.g.,11:59 PM or 12:00 AM) corresponding to a transition from the time periodrepresented by radial configuration 1100 to another time period. In thisexample, when a tracked current time is determined to be thepredetermined time by system 100, the appearance of one or more elementsof radial configuration 1100 may be modified by system 100 to representanother time period. For instance, a tracked current time may bedetermined to match a predetermined time of 11:59 PM or 12:00 AM whenthe GUI view shown in FIG. 11B is displayed in GUI 410. In response, theappearance of radial configuration 1100 in GUI 410 may be modified bysystem 100 to represent another time period. The modification may resultin a GUI view similar to the GUI view shown in FIG. 11A being displayedin GUI 410.

As shown in FIGS. 11A-11B, radial configuration 1100 may be displayedwithin a graphical representation of an analog clock face. The graphicalrepresentation of an analog clock face may include time indicators(e.g., hour and minute indicators), as well as time hands 1140-1 and1140-2 configured to visually indicate a tracked current time.

One or more graphical objects representative of one or more events,including any of the events and/or types of events described above, maybe displayed together with radial configuration 1100 in GUI 410. FIGS.11A-11B illustrate a plurality of graphical objects representative of aplurality of events displayed in GUI 410. In the illustrated example,two of the tabs in radial configuration 1100 are indicated by referencenumbers 1150-1 and 1150-2. However, the tabs shown in FIGS. 11A-11B maybe collectively referred to as “tabs 1150.”

Tabs 1150 may be positioned relative to the radial configuration 1100 oftime based information in GUI 410. In particular, tabs 1150 may bepositioned at certain locations within radial sections 1120. Theposition of tabs 1150 relative to the radial sections 1120 may representrelationships between events represented by the tabs 1150 and the timeperiod represented radial configuration 1100. Tabs 1150 may beconfigured as, or similar to, any of the tabs 450, 950, and/or 1070described above.

Tabs 1120 may be associated with particular radial sections 1120 ofradial configuration 1100. For example, in FIG. 11A, tab 1150-1 isassociated with a position within the first radial section 1120-1 ofradial configuration 1100, and tab 1150-2 is associated with a positionwithin the second radial section 1120-2 of radial configuration 1100.

In certain embodiments, tabs 1150 may be part of, and operated on aspart of, the respective radial sections 1120 in which the tabs 1150 arelocated. For example, when the first radial section 1120-1 of radialconfiguration 1100 is displayed more prominently than the second radialsection 1120-2 of radial configuration 1100 in GUI 410, tabs 1150located within the first radial section 1120-1 may be displayed moreprominently than tabs 1150 located within the second radial section1120-2 in GUI 410.

Any of the radial configurations described herein may be displayed inGUI 410 together with or without one or more graphical objects (e.g.,tabs) representative of one or more events. In certain embodiments,system 100 may be configured to selectively display any of the radialconfigurations described herein in accordance with a particular displaymode, which may be selected from a time-only display mode and atime-event display mode. In a time-only display mode, a radialconfiguration may be displayed without graphical objects representativeof events, such as is illustrated in FIGS. 5-8 and 10A-10D. In atime-event display mode, a radial configuration may be displayedtogether with one or more graphical objects representative of events,such as is illustrated in FIGS. 9A-9D,10E, and 11A-11B.

System 100 may be configured to toggle a GUI display of a radialconfiguration of time based information between a time-only mode and atime-event mode, including performing the toggling in response to userinput. For example, system 100 may detect a predetermined user input andtoggle from a time-only display to a time-event display in GUI 410 inresponse to the detected input. Accordingly, a user may convenientlyselect to view a radial configuration of time based information togetherwith or without event graphics and/or information.

While the exemplary GUIs and GUI views described above are illustratedin particular ways in the drawings, the examples are illustrative only.In particular, sizes of the elements in a GUI or GUI view may bemodified. In certain embodiments, for example, any of the GUI viewsillustrated in the drawings and/or described above may be in icon and/orwidget form within a GUI. As an example, any of the GUI views describedabove may be displayed in icon and/or widget form on a display of amobile phone device.

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary method for radial display of time basedinformation. While FIG. 12 illustrates exemplary steps according to oneembodiment, other embodiments may omit, add to, reorder, and/or modifyany of the steps shown in FIG. 12.

In step 1210, a radial configuration of time based information isdisplayed in a GUI. Step 1210 may be performed in any of the waysdescribed above, including radial time facility 170 generating andproviding data representative of the radial configuration to userinterface facility 180 for display by I/O facility 140. The radialconfiguration of time based information may include any of the exemplaryradial configurations of time based information described herein.

In step 1220, a graphical object representative of an event is displayedin the GUI. Step 1220 may be performed in any of the ways describedabove, including radial time facility 170 generating and providing datarepresentative of the graphical object to user interface facility 180for display by I/O facility 140. As described above, the graphicalobject may be positioned relative to the radial configuration in theGUI, and the relative position of the graphical object to the radialconfiguration may visually indicate a relationship between the eventrepresented by the graphical object and the time based informationrepresented by the radial configuration.

In certain embodiments, such as when radial time facility 170 and/orsystem 100 is operating a time-only display mode as described above,step 1220 may be omitted. Accordingly, a radial configuration of timebased information may be displayed without graphical objectsrepresentative of events. In some embodiments, step 1220 may beperformed in response to a predetermined event such as a user selectionconfigured to initiate operation of radial time facility 170 and/orsystem 100 in a time-event mode in which at least one graphical objectrepresentative of an event is displayed together with the radialconfiguration of time based information.

In step 1230, the appearance of the radial configuration of time basedinformation displayed in step 1210 is modified in the graphical userinterface. Step 1230 may be performed in response to detection of apredetermined event as described above, including detection of apredetermined user input or a tracked current time matching apredetermined time. The modification may be performed in any of the waysdescribed above, including changing a relative prominence of elements toone another in the graphical user interface.

In the preceding description, various exemplary embodiments have beendescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will, however,be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto,and additional embodiments may be implemented, without departing fromthe scope of the invention as set forth in the claims that follow. Forexample, certain features of one embodiment described herein may becombined with or substituted for features of another embodimentdescribed herein. The description and drawings are accordingly to beregarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

1. A method comprising: displaying by a computing system of a radialconfiguration of time based information in a graphical user interface ofsaid computing system; wherein said radial configuration of time basedinformation comprises a graphical timeline spirally disposed about atleast one axis point in said graphical user interface.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein: said graphical timeline represents a time period; saidgraphical timeline comprises a first section and a second sectionspirally disposed about said at least one axis point; said first sectionof said timeline represents a first portion of said time period; andsaid second section of said timeline represents a second portion of saidtime period.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein: said time periodcomprises an approximately twenty-four hour time period; said firstportion of said time period comprises an ante meridiem (“AM”) timeperiod; and said second portion of said time period comprises a postmeridiem (“PM”) time period.
 4. The method of claim 2, furthercomprising: detecting by said computing system that a tracked currenttime matches a predetermined time; and modifying by said computingsystem of an appearance of said graphical timeline in said graphicaluser interface in response to said detection.
 5. The method of claim 4,wherein said modifying comprises at least one of: removing said firstsection of said graphical timeline from said graphical user interface;and increasing a prominence of said second section of said graphicaltimeline in said graphical user interface.
 6. The method of claim 4,wherein said predetermined time comprises a time representing atransition from said first portion of said time period to said secondportion of said time period.
 7. The method of claim 2, wherein: said atleast one axis point consists of a single axis point; and said firstsection and said second section of said graphical timeline are spirallydisposed about said single axis point.
 8. The method of claim 7,wherein: said radial configuration comprises a first radial section areaassociated with said first section of said graphical timeline and asecond radial section area associated with said second section of saidgraphical timeline; and said first radial section area and said secondradial section area are positioned at different radial distances fromsaid single axis point.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:detecting by said computing system of user input; and modifying by saidcomputing system of said radial configuration in said graphical userinterface in response to said user input such that said second radialsection area is displayed more prominently than said first radialsection area in said graphical user interface.
 10. The method of claim2, further comprising: displaying by said computing system of aselectable endpoint object proximate to an endpoint of said graphicaltimeline in said graphical user interface; detecting by said computingsystem of a user selection of said selectable endpoint object; andmodifying by said computing system, in response to said user selection,of said timeline to represent another time period immediately precedingor following said time period.
 11. The method of claim 2, wherein saidat least one axis point comprises a first axis point and a second axispoint, and wherein said method further comprises: displaying by saidcomputing system of said first section of said graphical timeline in aspirally disposed position about said first axis point; and displayingby said computing system of said second section of said graphicaltimeline in a spirally disposed position about said second axis point.12. The method of claim 11, wherein: said first section of saidgraphical timeline represents future time based information and saidsecond section of said graphical timeline represents past time basedinformation; and said first section and said second section of saidgraphical timeline are connected together at a location representingpresent time based information.
 13. The method of claim 12, furthercomprising: displaying by said computing system of graphicsrepresentative of a horizon between said first section and said secondsection of said graphical timeline, said location positioned along saidhorizon, wherein said horizon comprises a linear timeline representativeof an approximately same time period as represented by said spirallydisposed graphical timeline; displaying by said computing system of aselectable object at said location, said selectable object beingmoveable along said horizon; detecting by said computing system ofmovement of said selectable object along said horizon; and graphicallyscrolling by said computing system of said graphical timeline inaccordance with said movement.
 14. The method of claim 2, furthercomprising displaying by said computing system of a graphical objectrepresentative of an event together with said radial configuration oftime based information in said graphical user interface, wherein aposition of said graphical object relative to said graphical timeline isconfigured to indicate a relationship between said event and said timeperiod.
 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising: detecting apredetermined user input; toggling from a time-only display mode to atime-event display mode in response to said predetermined user input,said toggling to said time-event display mode including said displayingof said graphical object representative of said event together with saidradial configuration of time based information is said graphical userinterface.
 16. The method of claim 1, tangibly embodied ascomputer-executable instructions on at least one computer-readablemedium, said computer-executable instructions configured to direct aprocessor of said computing system to perform said displaying of saidradial configuration of time based information in said graphical userinterface.
 17. A method comprising: displaying by a computing system ofa radial configuration of time based information in a graphical userinterface of said computing system, said radial configuration of timebased information representing a time period and including a firstradial section and a second radial section disposed about an axis pointat different radial distances from said axis point; wherein said firstradial section represents a first portion of said time period and saidsecond radial section represents a second portion of said time period.18. The method of claim 17, wherein: said time period comprises anapproximately twenty-four hour time period; said first portion of saidtime period comprises an ante meridiem (“AM”) portion of said timeperiod; and said second portion of said time period comprises a postmeridiem (“PM”) portion of said time period.
 19. The method of claim 17,further comprising: initially displaying by said computing system ofsaid first radial section more prominently than said second radialsection in said graphical user interface; and modifying by saidcomputing system of an appearance of said radial configuration of timebased information such that said second radial section is displayed moreprominently that said first radial section in said graphical userinterface.
 20. The method of claim 17, wherein: said first radialsection comprises a first ring encircling said axis point at a firstradial distance from said axis point; and said second radial sectioncomprises a second ring encircling said axis point at a second radialdistance from said axis point.
 21. The method of claim 17, wherein saidradial configuration of time based information comprises a graphicaltimeline spirally disposed about said axis point in said graphical userinterface.
 22. The method of claim 17, further comprising: displaying bysaid computing system of a graphical object representative of an eventtogether with said radial configuration of time based information insaid graphical user interface; wherein a position of said graphicalobject relative to said radial configuration of time based informationis configured to indicate a relationship between said event and saidtime period.
 23. A system comprising: a processing facility; a userinterface facility configured to direct said processing facility toprovide a graphical user interface for display on a display device; anda radial time facility configured to provide data representing a radialconfiguration of time based information to at least one of saidprocessing facility and said user interface facility for inclusion insaid graphical user interface; wherein said radial configuration of timebased information comprises a graphical timeline spirally disposed aboutat least one axis point in said graphical user interface.
 24. The systemof claim 23 implemented on a mobile phone device.
 25. The system ofclaim 23, wherein: said graphical timeline represents a time period;said graphical timeline comprises a first section and a second sectionspirally disposed about said at least one axis point; said first sectionof said timeline represents an ante meridiem (“AM”) portion of said timeperiod; and said second section of said timeline represents a postmeridiem (“PM”) portion of said time period.